Locked in Combat
by Gabriella F
Summary: A short story about a fight between a Blood Dragon in Skyrim. 'Nuff said.


I battle dragons with a passion.

A hollow, sickening roar rang against my ears as the blood dragon nestled on the nearest rock hill, watching me with dark eyes like a sentinel. It outspread its legs, arched its neck back, and stretched its massive wings, preparing for a battle. Icy panic settled over me like a frost blanket, but I shoved it away as I produced my Nightingale bow that was slung over my back and notched an ebony arrow, aiming at the dragon's heart.

I clenched my teeth in determination.

With a powerful beat of it's wings, it ascended back into the dark-blue sky, circling me from above. Taking aim, I unleashed the ebony arrow before it struck the dragon in the side of it's tough neck. The following screech didn't feel too good against my ears; I dropped my bow from the repercussion of the cry and ground my hands against my ears, trying to block out the sound that left a violent ringing in my ears.

The blood dragon descended he sky in an arc, knocking me off my feet from the force of the wind and tumbling to the blood-soaked ground. I swore as half of my ebony arrows escaped from the bag and scattered the ground. With no time to pick up the rest, I searched for my fallen Nightingale bow.

I found it lying on the ground several feet away. I lunged for it, but not before a thick, scorching fire escaped the dragon's mouth, searing the Nightingale bow and the grass around it. I swore and ran to the nearest rock pile for cover as the blood dragon unleashed a second fire from it's throat.

The heat from the popping and crackling flames blasted against my face, but I ignored it. The steady, heavy flapping of the blood dragon's wings echoed through the area.

Knowing I had to come up with _something_, I flipped through the pages of my memory for a flame spell. Giving my hands a hard gaze, a spiraling ball of ember materialized in the center of both my palms. Bringing them together, the flame ignited into a wild dancing fire ball and I burst from cover, goading the blood dragon with the thick fire.

The dragon uttered a nerve-racking shriek, falling to the ground as the leftover flames licked the leathery scaled layer of the dragon's skin. It hit the ground with a sickening_ thud._

Unsheathing my Dragonbone sword, I charged at the blood dragon, hacking and slashing at it's legs in an attempt to immobilize it. The dragon roared and swatted me aside with it's claw. I hissed at the burning sensation from the four jagged gashes in my shoulder. Screw this armor; that bastard blacksmith told me it would withstand five dragons at once.

The blood dragon snapped at me with it's jaws, but not before I tucked into a ball and lunged out of the way. Diving back at the creature, I leaped onto it's body, keeping my Dragonbone sword tightly clasped in a firm grip. The dragon uttered a sickening screech from it's throat, thrashing itself left and right in failed attempt to shake me off.

Before I could register what was happening, the dragon stretched it's wings, crouched down and remained there for a few seconds before slapping it's wings, and zooming into the air.

A scream filled my ears—I realized it was mine.

Glancing down, the large expanse of grass and stone on the ground far below looked like a giant bowl of air. My grip on the blood dragon's neck grew tighter in a desperate act to hold on. The blood dragon continued to flap it's wings, escalating higher in the air levels.

I realized I miraculously still had my sword in my hand. Setting my sights on the blood dragon's chest, I spun the sword in my hand to face it, and drove the blade deep inside the creature's heart. This time, the dragon managed to shake me off.

I flailed my arms and legs as I fell from the skies, the blood dragon spiraling to the ground from the sudden lethal blow. Just one more…

Reaching out to the blood dragon, I grabbed hold of the nape of it's neck, gripping the hilt of the sword and extracting it with a twist.

The ground rushed up to meet me as the blood dragon and I continued to fall. I saw the ebony arrow which I'd launched earlier still inside it's neck. I yanked it out and stuck it in the blood dragon's golden/black eye. The dragon didn't have time to utter a blood-chilling roar before the impact of it's body on the ground killed it off.

Thick dust hung in the air, choking and gagging my throat, making it hurt to breathe. Through the haze of dust and panic, I realized that I was lying on the blood dragon's back. On a groan, I rolled over and slid off the dragon, landing on my knees.

Forcing myself to my feet, I gave the blood dragon a long, hard glare. It's name suited the way it looked. Blood painted the scales and leathery skin, it's legs were torn and bleeding from the Dragonbone sword, and it's left eye was missing. I set my gaze over my shoulder and saw it lying on the ground, the ebony arrowhead stuck in it.

Limping, I plucked the arrow from where it lay, gazing into the eye of the blood dragon before giving my bloody, damaged armor a grimace. This imperial armor was a rip-off; it probably wasn't imperial armor at all. Never trust blacksmiths in Whiterun ever again.

I looked back at the eye of the blood dragon, trying to estimate a reasonable price for it. It was a bit damaged from the arrow head, so I couldn't be sure if that would lower—

I stopped thinking.

A ruffling, rumbling sound resonated from behind. I whirled around to face it and next thing I knew, a giant claw had me pinned to the ground in a clawed cage.

The blood dragon bared it's gore-stained it's teeth as it leered close to me. A rumbling, rattling growl vibrated in the back of it's throat. One of it's dark eyes glared at me with rage, while the other was an empty socket.

It opened it's mouth and unleashed a revolting howl, blowing me with dripping saliva, blood, and a nasty breath smell.

Out of breath, I chanted a word in the dragon language, fabricating a shout through my thoughts. "_Fus_," A ball of spiraling blue light formed in my mouth like a dancing blue flame. "_Ro_," The dragon reared it's other claw back, ready to kill. "_Dah_!" A blue force powerful enough to rock the earth escaped from my mouth, hitting the blood dragon in a shower of blue sparks and mighty energy.

The blood dragon reared itself on it's hind legs, releasing one last, deafening roar before falling to the ground, damaging the earth on percussion and creating a shower of dirt.

Although the creature was dead, I bent my knees, ready to spring.

A crackling, sizzling sound came from the dragon's dead corpse, and soon, flames began to chew through the dragon's leathery skin, working layer after layer through the dragon's body down to the bone. In a matter of seconds, the dragon's leathery scaled skin materialized into nothing. A foreign, multi-colored light soared from the corpse and surged into my body.

A vibrating sensation rippled under my skin and exploded from a tiny ember into a wild flame, as if a velvet blanket was tossed over me. The dragon's soul filled every hollow, cold corner of me with all strength, heat, and silent power. It almost felt like I was gravitating off the ground. It spiraled around my body in a matrix of patterns, leaving behind a hot, captivating power.

A strange, foreign language that I mystifyingly understood charred letters before my vision, boring a hole into my brain with a new shout.

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**A/N~ Aaaaand, leave a review! :D**


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